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U.S. – Russia Joint Conference on the Rule of Law
St. Petersburg, Russia

Leader Biographies


RICHARD PENA, CONFERENCE CHAIR
  • Attorney, Law Offices of Richard Pena, Austin, Texas
  • Former President of the State Bar of Texas from 1998-1999
  • Former President of the Travis County Bar Association
  • Former Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation and of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
  • Who’s Who in American Law, gives Mr. Pena an “AV” rating, indicating a “very high to prominent” reputation for legal ability and a “very high” general recommendation
  • Winner of three Presidential Citations from the State Bar of Texas
  • Leader of eight legal delegations to foreign countries for People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs.
  • Winner of the Dwight E. Eisenhower Excellence in Leadership award

CHIEF JUSTICE WALLACE B. JEFFERSON, CO-LEADER

  • Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
  • Graduate of the James Madison College at Michigan State University
  • Graduate of the University of Texas School of Law
  • Certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Served as San Antonio Bar Association president from 1998-1999 and
  • Voted by the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association’s as their Outstanding Young Lawyer in 1997
  • Named by the San Antonio Business Journal in 1996 as one of the “40 Under 40 Rising Stars”

STEVEN T. WALTHER, CO-LEADER

  • Co-founder of Walther, Key, Maupin, Oats, Cox & LeGoy law office in Reno, Nevada
  • Former member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association
  • Current co-chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights
  • Serves as the ABA Representative to the United Nations
  • Member of the American Law Institute and the International Bar Association
  • Former President of the State Bar of Nevada, the Western States Bar Conference, and the National Caucus of State Bar Associations
  • Former Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation

LAUREL G. BELLOWS, CO-LEADER

  • Current Chair of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates
  • Works as a Principal in the law firm of Bellows and Bellows, P.C., based in Chicago, Illinois
  • Former president of the Chicago Bar Association and the National Council of Bar Presidents
  • Named by American Lawyer Magazine as one of seven women nationally who contributed most to the advancement of women in the legal profession

STEPHEN N. ZACK, CO-LEADER

  • Partner in the Miami, Florida law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner
  • Former President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents and the Florida Bar Association
  • Former Chair of the University of Florida Law Center Council and the State of Florida Ethics Commission
  • Served on the State of Florida’s Constitutional Revision Commission

JAMES R. SILKENAT, CO-LEADER

  • Partner in the New York law firm of Arent Fox
  • Head of the international business group
  • Editor of The Moscow Conference on Law and Bilateral Economic Relations
  • Former member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association;
  • Former Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
  • Former Chair of the Section of International Law and the Section Officers Conference
  • Elected to the ABA House of Delegates in 1990.
  • Former chair of the New York Delegation in the House of Delegates
  • Former Chair of the ABA’s Museum of Law and the ABA’s China Law Committee
  • Current member of the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association
  • Former Chair of the Council on International Affairs of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York

IRENA S. LIEBERMAN, CO-LEADER

  • Director of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration,
  • She has edited and overseen the development of several ABA publications, including Standards for the Custody, Placement, and Care; Legal Representation; and Adjudication of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the United States
  • Former Director of Legal Services at the Tahirih Justice Center in Falls Church, Virginia,
  • Frequently called upon as an expert in women’s human rights and immigration by the media, Ms. Lieberman’s appearances and publications include CNN World Report, Radio Free Europe, Arts & Entertainment, the Washington Times, the UN Chronicle, and the Washington, D.C. Legal Times

MAJOR GENERAL ALFRED A. VALENZUELA, CO-LEADER

  • Senior Consultant to the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas
  • Commissioned from St. Mary’s University as a Distinguished Military Graduate and awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government; he holds a Master of Arts in Political Science.
  • Served as the Deputy Commanding General and Deputy Joint Task Force Panama Commander, U.S. Army South, Assistant Division Commander (Support), 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, from October 1996 until June 1998.
  • Served as Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command, from June 1998 to July 2000.
  • Named one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business magazine
  • Selected to the Board of Directors for the Cuban American National Council for Education

JEFFREY F. ADDICOTT, CO-LEADER

  • Associate Professor of Law and Director, Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas
  • Served as an active duty Army officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps for twenty years
  • Former Senior Legal Advisor to the United States Army’s Special Forces
  • Serves as a frequent contributor to national and international news shows including MSNBC, FOX News Channel, and the BBC

STEPHEN L. TOBER, CO-LEADER

  • Past President of the New Hampshire Bar Association
  • Served as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary from 2005-2006
  • Former president of the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association
  • Member of the ABA House of Delegates
  • Member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America
  • Two-time recipient of the New Hampshire Bar Association’s President’s Distinguished Service Award
  • Served as a member of the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s Board of Bar Examiners
  • Member of Fellow of the International Academy
  • Member of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation
  • Serves as Eastern Regional Chair of the American Bar Foundation

HOWARD C. COKER, CO-LEADER

  • Past President of the Florida Bar Association
  • Charter Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Former president of the Florida Federation of the American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Former president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who in America in 2001;
  • Recipient of the Florida Trial Lawyers Golden Eagle Award

PHILIP D. O’NEILL, Jr., CO-LEADER

  • Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senators and Presidential Aspirants
  • Former Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on National Security Law
  • Has served as an outside general counsel to American and foreign clients in connection with projects in the U.S. and around the world,
  • Member of many foreign and domestic arbitral institutions including: the American Arbitration Association; International Chamber of Commerce; WIPO; the London Court of International Arbitration; and the Stockholm, Milan, Dubai, and Hong Kong Arbitration Centers
  • Listed in the International Arbitration section of The Best Lawyers in America

WALTER HUFFMAN, CO-LEADER

  • Dean and Professor of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law
  • Served as a senior assistant for law and policy to the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  • Served as the Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army
  • Dean Huffman led the first U.S. Army delegation to China to reestablish relationships with the Chinese Army
  • Recipient of the Hungarian Distinguished Service Medal for extensive work with the post-Warsaw Pact Hungarian military

DEBORAH ENIX-ROSS, CO-LEADER

  • Chair of the American Bar Association Section of International Law in New York
  • Former Senior Legal Officer and Head of the External Relations and Information Section of the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Member of the American Arbitration Association Board of Directors and of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Transnational Arbitration
  • Served as the Director of International Litigation for the Dispute Analysis and Corporate Recovery Services Group (DA&CR) of Price Waterhouse LLP, and as the American representative to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration